


A couple that laughs together

by TheJokersEnigma



Category: Batman: The Telltale Series (Video Game), The Enemy within The Telltale Series
Genre: F/M, bit jumpy, first time writing john doe, not much of a plot really, tumblr requests
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-25 08:53:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13830729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheJokersEnigma/pseuds/TheJokersEnigma
Summary: This was a request from another lovely tumblr follower:'I’m not sure if you’ve played the telltale batman game but if you have could you maybe write an insert reader fic with John Doe? like, where reader joins the gang after Harley finds them? and John has a crush and is all blushy/giddy around reader?'So, this isn’t my best piece of writing, and it kind of jumps around a lot and doesn’t have much of a plot, but I was just playing around with this new character after binge watching the walkthroughs of the Telltale series on youtube haha





	A couple that laughs together

“Oo hoo hoo, Brucie, buddy, do you see her?” John Doe grinned, peering out the window of his ‘house’ in the subway hideout, elbows on the window sill and head resting in his palms.

“Who?” Bruce Wayne asked, looking away from where he had been inspecting the collection of pictures that hung on the back wall of the one-room.

“[Y/N], of course! The new girl!” John exclaimed excitedly, barely glancing back at his friend before his eyes were glued back on the woman as she followed Harley up the wooden walkway to her office.

Bruce walked up behind John - though he remained a cautious distance from the man, knowing his unpredictability. Wayne followed the green-haired man’s gaze to see the new young woman now vanishing into Harley’s office, the door closing firmly behind her.

Bruce stepped back again now, eyeing his unusual friend who noticed him withdrawing and glanced after him, his usual grin on his face and his eyes excitedly glancing back between Bruce and the office - clearly not wanting to miss [Y/N] reappearing.

“Do you like her by any chance, John?” Bruce smirked, crossing his arms.

“What?” John asked, faltering in his nervous to and froing from Bruce to the office, and now focusing completely on Bruce. If John could have blushed, Bruce was sure he would be, his bashfulness clear in his features. “I-is it… is it that obvious?” John mumbled, dropping his eyes and rubbing the back of his head with a pale hand.

“Quite.” Bruce smirked.

John scuffed his foot on the floor for a moment, “I – I think I do.” He then suddenly seemed to embrace his confession, snapping his head up, his smile back in place and all sense of shyness gone. “Yeah - Yeah, I do. It’s true.” He nodded to himself, “She’s just so… so - I don’t know!” He exclaimed, his grin returning, wide. “I don’t know what she is! But I think that’s why I like her so much, Bruce! She’s different!”

“I thought you liked Harley though?” Bruce frowned in question.

John’s face dropped at that, shooting a look of almost annoyance or suspicion at Bruce. “I did…” He muttered, “and maybe there’s still something there…” He mused with a frown, doubting himself - Bruce seeing the internal struggle. “But I can see it in [Y/N] too!” John suddenly exclaimed, excited again, “And she’d never hurt me! – not like Harley did…” He muttered to himself, his eyes darkening. Bruce remembered the shining black eyed he’d seen on John several times and the clear fear he had for Harley.

“Are you sure?” Bruce asked, not liking the idea of a second Harley wandering around. “Have you actually spoken to [Y/N] yet?”

John’s face fell slightly again. “Well – uh – no.” He admitted, embarrassed. “Not really anyway. I – uh – I tried. But then Harley came and told me ‘Puddin’, stop yammerin’” He quoted Harley in a higher pitched voice, then chuckled as though this was hilarious. He stopped when he noticed Bruce was still deadly serious. He coughed awkwardly, “And – uh – and then Harls just dragged [Y/N] off, saying that the newbie needed to earn her way.” He explained, hanging his head, defeated.

Bruce frowned at his friend’s misery, wishing he could say something to perk him up, or just offer some condolences. The last thing he wanted though was to encourage his friend to go after another ‘Harley’. It was painful enough to watch John take any opportunity to throw himself at the original Harley’s feet.

John Doe might be a criminal, but he wasn’t a bad guy and didn’t deserve that.

“How about I talk to her?” Bruce offered, “See if I can put in a good word for you?”

John snapped his head up. “Really, Bruce?! You’d do that for me?” He grinned in amazement at Bruce who nodded. “Wow. You really are the best pal anyone could ask for!” John grinned earnestly. “This means a lot! Like a lot. Anything you need – anything - let me know!”

“I’ll hold you to that, John.” Bruce teased lightly. “Right now, though, I’ve got to go talk to Freeze - he said he had some new tech to show me.”

“Take mittens!” John called after Bruce as the man left, before then falling into a fit of laughter at his own joke.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------

“So?! Buddy?! Tell me you’ve got some good news for me!” John cried, stepping up incredibly close to Bruce as Wayne once again found himself in John’s house - ha hacenia - later that evening.

“What?” Bruce frowned in confusion, cringing away from John’s closeness.

“The new girl! [Y/N]! Did you talk to her? What did you say?! What did she say?!” John blathered excitedly, grabbing Bruce’s shoulders so he couldn’t put space between them.

“Alright, John, calm down, take a breath.” Bruce said, placing his hands over John’s and extracting them from his shoulder.

“Your right, breathing exercises.” John muttered, closing his eyes and forcing himself to take long deep breaths, though it was easy to sense his impatience with it.

Bruce watched until John finally reopened his eyes, letting out a sigh. “Better.” He smiled turning back to Wayne. “But, come on!” He gestured for Bruce to take a seat on the wheelchair he seemed to use as an armchair, “Tell me what happened!”

“I actually can’t stay long –“

“Oooohhh Puddin’…!” Came Harley’s loud sing song voice from outside somewhere, “Hurry up!” She suddenly snapped.

John shot Bruce a confused look. “Harley’s given [Y/N] a job – I suggested you accompany her.”

John’s eyes went wide. “Really?!” He cried excitedly. Bruce nodded, and John let out an eerie nervous giggle. “Wow! I –“

“PUDDIN’!”

John cowered at the harsh shout, but the grin remained on his face. “Opps.” He laughed, getting to his feet and Bruce followed him out of the house and into the rest of the hideout.

“There the happy couple are!” Harley cried, from by her office door above them. “You two boys gossip like a buncha ol’ ladies,” Harley exclaimed, and John grinned over at Bruce, “but we ain’t got time for chattin’ - we got work ta do!” Harley berated them. “Newbie,” She said turning to [Y/N] who stepped out of the office to stand by her side, “ya know what ya doin’, don’t let me down.” She warned.

[Y/N] didn’t say anything, just gave a nod.

Harley grinned at the obedience. “Puddin’, you’re with newbie,” She said, turning back to the two men and jabbing a finger over her shoulder at [Y/N]. “Brucie, you’re gonna go with ‘em too – hopefully combined you’ll actually brin’ back somethin’ that’s useful!” She growled. “Now, I gotta go see Bane about his men touching my stuff – it just ain’t polite.” With that, Harley swaggered down the walkway from her office and disappeared off into the recesses of the hideout.

[Y/N] had followed after Harley, but now veered off, approaching the two men still stood together. “Bruce.” She nodded to Wayne, “and your John, right?” She asked, turning to John.

His face lit up at her already knowing his name. “Yes!” He grinned excitedly “Pleasure ta meet ya.” He flung out a hand which the girl, surprisingly, didn’t hesitate to take. John couldn’t seem to stop grinning, even when they released their hold.

“So, we’re heading to…” Bruce hinted.

“Harley’s given me coordinates, but no other details.” [Y/N] informed them, “I’m not sure she even knows what’s there.”

“Sounds like Harley.” John giggled nervously.

“So, do you know what we’re actually after from this place?” Bruce asked.

[Y/N] shook her head. “Harley just said I’d know it when I see it.”

Bruce frowned. “Vague as always.” He muttered.

“But that’s what makes it more exciting!” Beamed John, clearly trying to cheer them up.

“And more dangerous.” Pointed out [Y/N] turning away to mess with a gadget she just pulled from her belt.

Bruce saw John’s face drop at this, and when John caught Bruce looking he shot him a worried look, clearly troubled that he said something wrong.

“Got directions.” [Y/N] suddenly said, waving her device in the air. “If you boys are ready, shall we go?”  
\--------------------------------------------------

Bruce had been wrong about [Y/N] – yes it was clear what John had meant about her being Harley-like - she was still an independent, strong and ruthless woman – something any criminal in her line of business needed. But, unlike Harley, she didn’t seem to be unnecessarily cruel or confrontational.

Bruce decided he was willing to help John with his love life.

They three of them drove in silence – John having tried a few weak conversation starters from the back seat, but they had all fizzled out pretty quickly when neither Bruce nor [Y/N] had given much in the way of answers.

“Alright. This is it.” [Y/N] finally said, pointing out to the street they had just turned down. Bruce parked up the car and glanced up and down the silent pavements. It was around 2am, the streets empty and dark, making it hard to work out exactly where they were. The building a few metres ahead of them, however, had familiar stone statues guarding the steps that lead up to an imposing marble building.

“Ooo hoo hoo, museum trip!” John grinned leaning forward between the two front seats to look out the front window.

“Did Harley mention anything about a museum?” Bruce asked [Y/N].

“Not specifically – but some of the things she was saying makes a bit more sense now…” [Y/N] said, already opening the car door and sliding out. “I’m gonna go check out the security.” She told them, not waiting for a response before she was already gone.

The two men watched her stride casually down the street and then vanish around one of the large pillars that held an eroded stone animal of sort – possibly a lion.

“So!” John suddenly said loudly next to Bruce’s ear, almost making him jump. “Do you think she likes me?” He asked eagerly.

“Uh – it’s kind of hard to tell.” Bruce frowned.

John’s face fell for a moment, but then he seemed to think about this for a moment and bobbed his head in understanding, deciding not to let that get to him. “Right. Sure. I – I just don’t want to mess this one up like I did with Harley – ya know?”

Bruce nodded, “You’ll be fine - just don’t rush into anything – don’t be too desperate.” He advised. “Be yourself – be a friend.”

“A friend? Yeah. A friend. I can do that.” John muttered to himself, thinking hard on this. Just then, [Y/N] reappeared around the statue, striding back towards the car. The men got out to meet her on the pavement.

“Ok, security looks pretty light,” She informed them, “but it’s still gonna cause a bit of a pain – we’ll need to ditch the car a few streets away-”

“If we don’t know what we’re looking for, how do we know where we need to go once were inside?” Bruce interrupted with a frown, noticing how John looked at him, annoyed at how he’d cut [Y/N] off.

“I have an idea on that.” [Y/N] said, though she didn’t say anything more than that. “Wayne, you move the car, me and John will head round to the loading bay at the back – that’s got the most hiding places for us to find a good place to sneak in - meet us there.”

The two men nodded, happy to go along with this - John shooting Bruce a look behind [Y/N]’s back before he followed after her down the street to the back entrance. The two of them crouched behind some crates that had been left outside, still tightly sealed, until the morning. [Y/N] scanned for the security cameras she had spotted earlier, finding the two that hung either side of the large hanger-like doors where lorry deliveries were unloaded. John watched as [Y/N] pulled out another gadget from her belt and punched in a few buttons.

“Cameras are dead.” She muttered, putting the machine away again, “but only for about five minutes, so rich boy better hurry up.”

“He’ll be here.” John reassured her, “He’s never let me down.”

[Y/N] eyed John, slightly confused by his eagerness, but nodded.

They didn’t have to wait long for Bruce to find them, but [Y/N] had already noted the best way in - the small door in the loading bay made only for people to get through. The only security on it being a simple lock that John volunteered to pick after some eye hinting from Bruce.

“Wow, that was impressive – don’t think I’ve ever seen someone pick a lock that fast.” [Y/N] commended John as he pushed the door open. “You’ll put me out of a job.” John grinned ecstatically at the praise and bowed theatrically out of the way to allow [Y/N] to walk through the doorway first. She smirked at him and took the offer, not noticing the thumbs up John then shot Bruce behind her back.

The rest of the night was carried out without much of a hitch - there were a few close calls with security guards, but [Y/N] somehow seemed to know where she was going despite what she had said, taking out security systems as needed - though only for brief periods of time so it never looked more suspicious then a few faulty pieces of equipment.

What the three of them were after, turned out to be an odd cube-like item that was located in storage, ready to be put on display to the public in a few weeks. The time to steal it had been arranged perfectly – before the item had been advertised as being in Gotham and, therefore, before security on it became too high.

“How did Harley even know this was here?” Bruce muttered, inspecting the item.

“She must have someone in the museum.” [Y/N] shrugged, not sounding as though she particularly cared - just getting on with the job she was hired to do. She wasn’t paid to ask questions.

John was looking around at the other items in boxes or beneath sheets, making faces at the different toys he found. He glanced up as [Y/N] walked past him, watching her back as she walked out of ear shot, then slipping over to Bruce who still held the cube, examining it.

“I think I’m getting somewhere…” John trilled happily.

“She definitely seems impressed by your skills.” Bruce commented.

“She did, didn’t she?” He beamed, glancing back at [Y/N].

Bruce clapped him on the shoulder, with a smile. “Come on, we should head.”

“Right. Yeah.” John nodded, trying to stop himself grinning as he followed after Bruce in the direction [Y/N] had gone.  
\----------------------------------------------------------

“Wayne!” Bruce turned at his name to see [Y/N] leaving one of the goons and jogging over to him. “Can I – uh – ask a favour?”

“Depends what it is,” Brue smirked, “but sure.”

She smirked back, “I – uh – I just was gonna ask if you could, maybe, talk to John for me?”

“Oh?” Bruce raised an eyebrow in surprise, “About what?” He tried to think what John could have possibly done – him and [Y/N] having spent a lot of time together since the museum a few days ago. They seemed to somehow be getting on surprising well – Bruce had barely needed to help John at all.

“Well – uh – not to sound like an all-girls sleepover,” She smirked, rolling her eyes, “– but I kinda thought he liked me…” She said, watching for Bruce’s reaction, “But then… Well, we were talking about tomorrow night – you know, me and Harley heading to the black site for some recon?” Bruce nodded. “Well, John suddenly got really quiet, made an excuse and left.” She explained, glancing towards John’s ‘house’. “I haven’t seen him come out since and that was hours ago.”

“You want me to go see what’s wrong?”

[Y/N] nodded. “It’s just a bit odd.”

“I understand. I’ll go talk to him once I’ve dropped this off.” Bruce said, shifting the box he had in his arm.

“Thanks Bruce. You’re alright.” [Y/N] said with a small smile, lightly touching his arm before she then walked past him, heading to Harley’s office again.

A few moment later, Bruce was knocking on John’s ‘house’ door. There was no answer, so Bruce just let himself in.

The room was completely dark, and Bruce paused, unsure if John was even in, leaning over to hit the light switch on his right, the fairy lights around the room suddenly flickering to life. John looked the picture of misery, sitting on the floor, leaning heavily against the cabinet that sat under the back wall of picture frames.

“John?” Bruce called softly.

John’s eyes flashed open and he snapped his head up. “Hey! Bruce, buddy!” He cried, quickly scrambling to his feet, clearly trying to he was fine. “What’s up?”

“Are you… alright?” Bruce was hesitantly.

“Me?” John chuckled uneasily, “I’m fine! Great! Hunky dory!” He grinned enthusiastically, swinging his arms, but the look on Bruce’s face told him that Wayne wasn’t buying it. “Ah! You see right through me, Bruce!” John sighed, letting his shoulder droop and his head fall before he moved dejectedly over to his wheelchair and slumped down into it. “It’s [Y/N].” He mumbled sadly.

“What about [Y/N]?”

“I - I don’t like the idea of her being out… there.” John confessed.

“You mean on jobs?” Bruce asked frowned and John nodded numbly. “I’m sure she’ll be fine, John.” Bruce tried to reassure him.

“You can’t promise that though, can you?!” John snarled angrily. He suddenly seemed to realise himself again and a look of apology crossed his face. “Things – things could go wrong.” John mumbled, dropping his gaze again, letting his hands hang limply between his legs.

“John. I’m not going to lie to you - things could always go wrong.” John had looked up when Bruce spoke, but now he dropped his head again. “But you also can’t stop [Y/N] from doing what she wants,” Bruce continued, “– she’s being doing this job for years – she likes it and she’s good at it.”

“Urgh, I know,” Huffed John, rolling his neck, “I’ve tried talking her out of it, but she was pretty adamant….”

“So I hear.”

“She told you?!” Johns head snapped up.

“She was worried – she asked me to come and talk to you.”

John scowled. “And here I thought – Bruce - that you might have come because you’re my friend and you actually cared about me.” He growled.

“I do care, John,” Bruce insisted, “but you don’t understand – [Y/N] also cares.”

“She does?” He perked up.

“Clearly.”

John was suddenly grinning widely, “Well that just…” He glanced out the window in the direction of Harley’s office, though [Y/N] wasn’t in sight. “That just makes me sooooo happy!”

Bruce gave him a small half smile. “I think you need to go and talk to her.” He told John after a pause.

“But what – what do I tell her, Bruce?

“Tell her what you think - that you’re worried she’ll get hurt, and you care about her too much to see that. She might at least understand then.”

“Really?” John frowned. “I’m - I’m not sure I can, Bruce. It – It feels weird to talk about my feelings – Harley never liked it - what if [Y/N] doesn’t either?”

“John. Harley and [Y/N] are two very different people - despite what you might think. You can’t keep comparing them.”

John considered this for a moment. “You know what? I think your right, Buddy - I’m not particularly comfortable with it, but you make sense.” He said giving Bruce a thumbs up. He glanced back at the window. “I guess there’s no time like the present.”

Bruce nodded, watching as John nervously got to his feet, fiddling with his fingers. They both stepped outside, John glancing nervously back at Bruce when, almost simultaneously, [Y/N] stepped out with Harley from the office directly opposite.

Bruce gave him John a reassuring nod and the green-haired man swallowed anxiously, then steeled himself, forcing himself to stand more upright and puffing his chest out slightly.

[Y/N] caught sight of John as he broke away from Bruce, heading towards the two women, and she met Bruce’s eyes, him also giving her a tiny nod. Her lips turned up into a slight smile, relieved.

“Heya, Puddin’, whatcha need?” Harley asked as John stopped in front of them.

“Hey Harls! I was – uh – hoping to – uh – to borrow [Y/N] – just for a moment.” John said, already trying not to wring his hands in nerves.

“Oh?” Harley said, rather surprised, then glanced between John and [Y/N], “Whatever,” She shrugged, uncaring. “take her, just don’t break her.” She sang with a causal flick of her hand, continuing on down the walkway, leaving the two of them alone.

Bruce felt like he ought to give the two of them space, but he didn’t want to ditch John if he needed back up. Instead, he just settled with looking busy whilst a nearby crate, whilst still keeping half an eye on the couple on the other side of the room.

“Hey, John, you alright?” [Y/N] asked once they were alone, “You kind of rushed off earlier.”

“Huh – oh – uh - I’m fine!” John brushed off, glancing at her face before dropping his gaze, hands behind his back and scuffing the ground with one foot – the typical image of nerves. “Actually – I – uh – wanted to explain my – uh – my actions earlier…” He muttered, watching his foot kick at the wooden floorboard of the walkway. “See, I – uh – well - I didn’t want you to – to go to the black site in case – well in case you got hurt.”

“Oh?” [Y/N] said, surprised, “Well – uh – that’s really sweet… But – John - that’s kind of my job. If I don’t go, I don’t get paid. And – well, the rush, it’s fun.” She confessed with a shrug.

“It more than that though!” John blurted out loudly and [Y/N] eyes widened in surprise. “Sorry – it’s just – I – uh – I care. About you.” John stuttered. “I actually – uh - more than care about you, in fact. I – I really like you - Like, like like you.”

[Y/N] smirked. “That’s a lot of likes.” She pointed out gently.

John chuckled. “I – uh – have a lot of likes for you.” [Y/N] blushed.

“So, you see, I –“

John’s rambling was suddenly silenced when [Y/N] gently grabbed his shoulders and pulled him towards her, placing her lips on his. John’s eyes widened into huge orbs in surprise.

“You talk too much.” [Y/N] mumbled against his lips before she pulled back, releasing him.

“Oh – I’m sorry.” John mumbled, looking crestfallen and looking away.

“No, no!” [Y/N] said quickly, waving her hands. “I didn’t mean that – I meant – well I don’t really know - I was just joking!”

“Oh?” John’s head snapped back up and a grin played on his lips, “Really?”

“It wasn’t really funny was it?” [Y/N] muttered, her turn to be embarrassed and look away.

“No – no!” John said, now reassuring her, “Its very funny!” He said, now starting to chuckle his peculiar, eerie laugh.

He stopped laughing when he realised [Y/N] wasn’t, now looking at her, worried he’d screwed it up, but then she glanced up with a smirk and began to chuckle as well. John grinned widely and then began to laugh with her again.

Bruce watched all of this - rather confused – from just outside of John’s house. He smirked, bemused at the odd couple, but just shrugged to himself and wandered off, leaving the two of them to it.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope it’s alright - like I said, it’s not the best, so I’m not expecting a huge amount of love for this story, but I just think he’s quite a fun character - different from what I usually write!


End file.
